Community Conversation Summary Individual Artists and Cultural Producers Open House: March 9th, 2017 Hamiltonian Gallery, 1353 U Street NW Hosted by the DC Office of Planning, in Partnership with The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities & The DC Office of Cable Television, Film, Music, and Entertainment 1
ASPIRATION STATION 2
OVERHEARD IN THE HAMILTONIAN GALLERY Quotes from Participants I live in Eckington, the linkage with other community members is really important. We need affordable housing at 30% AMI that is permanent. Seek out good stories, African American stories, to prevent disenfranchisement. Audience is an end product. Build up the community to build the audience. Simplify the grant application process. Money has to flow. Help artists come together to buy live/work space. Never be dark black box theatre management: We need a consortium location for small theaters with storage, rehearsal and performance space. Create incentives for developers to retain existing cultural tenants. 3
INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS OPEN HOUSE on the DC Cultural Plan ATTENDANCE: Approximately 90 individual artists, creative entrepreneurs, and humanities practitioners from across the District attended this open house. Individual artists, unaffiliated with an organization, have a unique perspective, set of goals and needs to be incorporated into the Cultural Plan. WHAT: After hosting four community conversations across the District, the Office of Planning (OP) in partnership with the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities (DCCAH) and Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment (OCTFME) held a meeting to hear directly to individual artists, humanities practitioners, and creative entrepreneurs. SO WHAT? At each conversation, agency directors from OP, DCCAH and OCTFME talked directly with attendees, while trained staff from from the Office of Planning, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, DC Arts and Education Collaborative, HR&A advisors and bcworkshop transcribed notes on these conversations. These discussions sought to better understand the specific challenges experienced by individual artists and potential strategies to address them. Participants engaged in three salon style conversations: Stage hosted by OP, Performer hosted by OCTFME, and Audience hosted by DCCAH. 4
STAGE Does the District support your space needs? How can cultural space promote collaboration? 5
STAGE IDEAS Does the District support your space needs? How can cultural space promote collaboration? Collaborative spaces that are never dark : Occupied seven days and nights a week with artists from a variety of disciplines Rethink or consider public spaces, such as alleys, as areas for production, expression and performance Connect local artists with developers Create financial incentives for developers/space owners to keep existing cultural tenants in new development projects A mechanism that connects owners of available space to those in need of performance or production space 6
PERFORMER What specific information, resources, and tools do you need to pursue, produce, and present creative endeavors? What kind of partnerships do you need to be successful? 7
PERFORMER IDEAS What specific information, resources, and tools do you need to pursue, produce, and present creative endeavors? What kind of partnerships do you need to be successful? Review and revise the zoning arts overlay to ensure equitable inclusion of arts space Create an institution dedicated to local visual artists and/or celebrate local identity in existing federal institutions A mechanism that connects owners of available space to those in need of performance or production space Hire an artist ambassador to act as a liason between local artists and businesses Create permanent, sustainable spaces that allow for artists to exist and mature in DC (production space, galleries to show and sell work, affordable housing) 8
AUDIENCE How do you experience culture? How do you engage your audience? 9
AUDIENCE IDEAS How do you experience culture? How do you engage your audience? Include a local artist advisor in all DC events and initiatives Bolster the visual arts audience by creating a DC Art Fair Increase opportunities for paid work for local artists by incentivizing and expanding marketing of local venues Facilitate collaborative artist purchases of live-work space As DC continues to change demographically, preserve local cultural heritage by focusing on access and inclusion in strategy development 10
MOST FREQUENTLY MENTIONED Across all conversations, some topics were brought up on repeated occasions performance or production space affordable preservation barriers to production heritage community approach affordable public funding source accessibility of public processes and resources networking support for small businesses cultural identity 11
MOST FREQUENTLY MENTIONED Key themes emerged among the most-discussed topics Community approach 42 mentions Support for small businesses 27 mentions Key comments related to community approach addressed: Inclusion of local artists and culture in federal institutions Financial support/grants for local, grassroots organizations Linkages between artists and local businesses Connecting local artists to local space owners Key comments related to support for small businesses were concerned with: Build capacity and provide technical assistance for artists to start their own business Financially incentivize local organizations to stay within the District Connect local artists to local developers Public funding source 30 mentions Performance or production space 25 mentions Key comments related to public funding sources in the District were concerned with: Create a revenue stream to support growth of the arts community (ex. tax or endowment) Incentives for developers to provide space for arts uses and prioritize local artists and organizations Need for short term and flexible funding Mandates for artists to be paid Key comments related to barriers to performance or production space included: Need for permanent, sustainable space both affordable housing and production space Tense relationship between artists and nearby businesses due to noise regulations Connect local artists to local space owners 12
dcculturalplan.org @DCCulturalPlan #DCCulturalPlan #IntermissionDC Artist: James Bulloug, Addison Karl. Title: Shh Credit Line: DC Department of Public Works, MuralsDC Program